I grew up reading “The Fire Next Time” by James (Jimmy) Baldwin and “Native Son” by Richard Wright.

As a seasoned citizen, the cultural mantra I’ve been using is that the Black Community is not a monolithic community. 

It was not until today, when I saw this LinkedIn post, that I realized Wright and Baldwin were perfect examples of my mantra.

They differed in generations, upbringing, geography, and probably comfort with sexual orientation.

Some think it’s easy for lives to be black and white, OR all the same color.

The question becomes – for whom?

For some reason, Wright’s contemporary, Langston Hughes, comes to mind: ” Life ain’t no crystal stair.”

And why is that? Because of the multitude of nuanced colors, cultures, and callings. Because of those 3C’s, there is chaos. But order can and does come from chaos.

Some would say, “let’s get rid of the chaos, let’s get rid of the differences.”

The answer is NOT obilteration of those who are different, nor who we don’t like or understand. And let’s be frank, there are some folk we’re just not going to like.

But that also doesn’t mean we can’t listen. 

So Wright and Baldwin had beef? Interestingly, 11 years after the death of Wright, during “Nikki Giovanni and James Baldwin in conversation on ‘SOUL!’ (PART 2) | ALL ARTS Vault” that Jimmy Baldwin recommended that poet, Nikki Giovanni, read Richard Wright’s book “Lawd Today.” (Start time: 12:33).

Baldwin and Giovanni talked, they disagreed, they listened. Baldwin even acknowledged how he learned from Wright, but didn’t see the lessons when he was in his 20s.

Baldwin and Giovanni had similar differences – generational, upbringing, geography (neighborhood), and probably comfort with sexual orientation.

America and Americans are not monolithic. WE ARE ALL DIFFERENT! I wish we all could talk as Jimmy and Nikki did, based on our polylithic-ness AND disagree and listen to find commonalities so that The Beef feeds a multitude.